


Apple Cider

by MentalSlavery



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alpha Zuko (Avatar), Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, M/M, Omega Sokka (Avatar), Omega Verse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:08:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28221426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MentalSlavery/pseuds/MentalSlavery
Summary: Zuko was expected to be an Omega; he didn't emerge as one. Sokka's alignment was up in the air.Re-write of ATLA with a focus on these two, their budding romance, and how things would be different if ATLA were an Omegaverse.I make no promises to finish this fic, or even update regularly!
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 67





	Apple Cider

**Author's Note:**

> For those who don't know anything about Omegaverse, a quick summary (with my own personal Avatar universe flair):
> 
> In addition to basic genders, there is an "Alignment" that can be one of several. Alpha are the leaders/warriors, Deltas are their second-in-commands, Betas are the peacekeepers, Gammas are typically known to be Omega support systems, and Omegas are the "mothers" and are able to get pregnant regardless of primary gender. Anyone not yet "emerged" from their "Spiritual Dreaming" (AKA anyone not yet presented) is called a Pup. A family/friend group is called a Pack. All alignments have a set of built-in instincts that are based on their "role" in the pack as described.
> 
> Each person has a scent unique to them that they can mostly control. It is not enough of a scent that they can be easily tracked over miles by human nose alone, but it can do things such as entice a mate, calm down pups, etc. Pups typically have a milky or powdery scent until they emerge with their unique scent. This milky scent can also be found in the scents of pregnant men/women. In addition to a unique smell, there is usually some kind of smell related to their heritage (ice/tangy ocean for Water Tribe, smoke/fire for Fire Nation, crisp air/susurrus for Air Nomads, fresh-cut grass/tilled earth for Earth Kingdom, etc.).
> 
> In addition to all this are the mating cycles. All alignments have varying degrees of "instinct takeover" where their "human" brain is shoved into a box and their alignment instincts take over. Alphas go into ruts, where they are more territorial and aggressive and attempt to seek out a mate; Omegas go into heat, where they are next to helpless and attempt to entice an Alpha to mate; Deltas have a less serious version of Alphas and Gammas a less serious version of Omegas; Betas are largely un-affected by alignment instincts but if there's a lot of power disparity or infighting amongst a pack their instincts push them to mediate. Not all communities care what your alignment is when it comes to mating, but some have strict rules regarding Alphas and Omegas, Alphas and Alphas, Omegas and Omegas, etc.
> 
> Lastly, there is Bonding. Whereas mating is basically just sex, bonding is more intimate. Bonding is like marriage, but more instinctual. It is done during mating by using lengthened canines to bite into the scent gland of the mate and imprint your unique scent upon the mate. This creates a one-sided bond. One-sided bonds can be broken by a new bonding mark. However, if both parties mark each other, the bond is two-sided and unbreakable. These usually don't happen unless both parties trust each other wholeheartedly, especially if one party is an Alpha, since it goes against an Alpha's instincts to "submit" to anyone. In some ATLA communities, it is typical for bonds to happen outside of lifelong mates, in others it's considered sacrilege, and in others Alphas can bond any Omega they mate and the Omega is expected to be subservient like a consort to the Alpha regardless of how... voluntary the one-sided bond was. Because Omegas are the most likely to be taken advantage of due to the intensity of their instincts during heats and , a lot of communities have special laws in place to protect them, such as wearing collars, enforced curfews, etc.
> 
> That's all of the summary for now, the rest should be easily understood by context in the story, but if you have any questions (especially regarding my own personal flair on Omegaverse), please feel free to ask in the comments!

Zuko was a disgrace to his family's lineage. He was weak-willed, had barely any spark, no talent for firebending, was a sickly child, and spent far too much time learning fine arts than was appropriate for a Crown Prince of a nation at war for the last hundred years. So, when he was scarred and banished from his home at the young age of thirteen, and his younger sister Azula was made Crown Princess, most of the nation regarded Ozai's choice as wise. The few who didn't were of two parties: those who felt it would have been better to remove the Prince entirely rather than leave him alive to possibly take the throne in the future, and those who felt Ozai went too far. The second party, of course, spoke only behind closed doors with their most trusted confidantes.

Zuko had been a caring child, consistently seen taking care of the turtleducks in the pond in the palace garden. When he'd been given his doll for his third birthday, he had swaddled it in a blanket and taken utmost care of it. It was still in near-pristine condition when he left his home, if a little dusty from disuse after the age of eight. His sister Azula, on the other hand, ripped the head and limbs of her doll off within a few days of owning it. She didn't bother fixing it, just left the pieces and stuffing fluff lying around for the servants to clean up. Everyone knew Azula was the prime example of a Fire Nation heir: strong, proud, a firebending prodigy, and extremely interested in the art of war. There were no doubts she would emerge Alpha and be a Fire Lord the nation could rally behind. Zuko, though... Zuko could never be anything but Omega, a dissappointment that sullied the blood of the royal family.

As such, it was to everyone on Zuko's crew's surprise when Zuko went into his Spiritual Rebirth during their journey, and emerged from the spirit world as Alpha. Although as of recent times the Prince was more aggressive than before, no one had thought much of it, since he was so angry and hurt about his banishment. He had shown no excessively Alpha traits besides lashing out in anger on occasion, and still showed his caring nature through how he led his crew. But what the spirits ordained, was; so the crew accepted it and moved on.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sokka was a very passionate child. He was intelligent and threw himself into work with single-minded devotion, but those traits also tended to make him careless and accident-prone. He loved fishing and hunting trips with his father, was fascinated with the idea of becoming a tribe warrior, and avoided "women's work" like the plague, but he always ensured his sister was taken care of and was great with the younger children of the village, who flocked to him like baby penguins following the mother penguin. There was a bit of a betting pool going around the village on what he would emerge from his Spirit Dreaming as. Some of the village were hopeful his interest in weaponry and hunting meant he would be a great Alpha protector that could grow to be village Chief one day; others saw his natural affinity for children as the sign of an Omega- the first the tribe would have since Kya died, and a good number of them felt the odd mixture of both signs meant he would be a Beta or Delta: a bridge between both Alpha and Omega. Those in favor of the Omega category would eat well the winter of his thirteenth year, for he emerged from his Dreaming Omega.

Sokka, however, was less than thrilled by this. He had wanted nothing more than to be Alpha or Delta his entire life: he wanted to be a celebrated warrior and hunter, uncontested leader, and strong husband to his future wife. To him, being Omega meant he was weak. The Tribe had never discriminated based on your Spirit gender- Omega men were just as welcome to be hunters and warriors as any other- but Omegas were expected to carry children at some point, and Sokka had decided that made Omegas weaker. With no older Omegas in the village after his mother's death, he didn't have the example necessary to understand that there is nothing more terrifying than an Omega protecting their pups.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sokka and Katara were fishing amidst the icebergs the day everything changed. Katara had recently emerged Delta, and it pissed Sokka off. He was the older brother, the smart one, the one who should be in charge in Dad's abscence, yet Katara's Spirit gender seemed to have made her even more bossy than before. She splashed him with her magic water tricks, then smashed an entire iceberg in her anger at him over something that wasn't even his fault, and then refused to listen to him when he pointed out that they needed to be wary of the stranger that had been entombed in the ice. He let the stranger's weird pet give them a ride back home since they were essentially stranded, but was reluctant to allow the stranger to stay longer than necessary.

His so-called paranoia paid off a few hours later, when a flare alerted a Fire Nation ship that subsequently pushed its way through the ice into their village. A young ship soldier stepped down, flanked by his crew, yelling at Sokka's village and grabbing his grandmother. He ran forward on the attack, desperate to keep his family and tribe safe, but no matter what he did the young soldier bested him. Thankfully, the strange airbender kid came riding back in on an otter penguin to help defend the village. Aang, who apparently was the Avatar and not just some random air bender, left with the Fire Nation soldiers after receiving a promise that the village would be spared if he did so. Thankfully, the soldier kept his word, and the tribe was able to begin repairing the damage done to their village.

Sokka knew he couldn't allow the Avatar to be captured by the Fire Nation, so he packed as many supplies as he could into a canoe and prepared to leave. He and Katara said goodbye to their Gran-Gran just as Aang's pet came over the edge of a snowdrift, and Katara smirked at him as she grabbed their supplies and started packing them into the sky bison's saddle bags. Eventually, they were able to get the sky bison to fly and catch up to the Fire Nation ship, where they met up with Aang and were able to escape their clutches. Aang performed the most amazing waterbending feat Sokka had ever seen, and he had gotten the young Fire Nation soldier back for besting him earlier by poking the other boy with the end of Aang's glider. He jumped up into the saddle, following his sister's sage and ice scent and Aang's un-emerged milk and powder scent, smoky cinnamon-and-clove lingering in his nose from the Fire Nation boy.

As they soared off into the skies, Zuko looked on in disappointment, anger, and surprise, vowing not to underestimate the young Avatar despite his pup status. He breathed in the lingering scents of sage and ice, milk and powder, and warm candied apples on a snowy night, commiting them to memory so when his crew gets them out of the collapsed snow and they catch up, tracking them will be that much easier. Plus, the girl's sugar-sweet Omega smell wasn't half bad.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zuko hated a lot of things- cold, the Avatar, waiting- but he hated Commander Zhao far and above anything else. The man was a snake at best. Ever since Zuko was small, Zhao had done nothing but make his life a living hell. Before he'd emerged, Zhao had pestered him relentlessly about how once he'd emerged Omega the man would be sure to put himself forward as a candidate for his Alpha, then once he'd been banished and subsequently emerged Alpha, Zhao had done everything he could to get in Zuko's way and prove who was the better Alpha. It was a one-sided pissing contest that Zuko did everything he could to stay out of. Unfortunately, Zhao had now upped the ante on said contest by learning about the Avatar and deciding to search him out himself so as to keep Zuko from being able to return home. Zuko was now in a race against both Zhao and time, and he was losing heavily; he could not afford to ignore the other Alpha's taunts any longer. Besides, he was getting tired of smelling Zhao's acrid scent of burning flesh.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They finally made it to the Southern Air Temple, to find it empty. Sokka and Katara had been prepared for this eventuality, but Aang was still in as much denial as he could be. When the Tribe siblings found a fire nation helmet, dented and scorched and covered in the dust and grime of a century of abandonment, Sokka knew it was time to tell the poor kid. Katara seemed to agree, but had a last-minute change of heart, covering both the helmet and Sokka in a mound of snow. "You know Katara, I thought I was supposed to be the nurturing Omega here," Sokka griped, "You can't protect him forever. The Fire Nation was here, you can't pretend they weren't."

"I can for Aang's sake. If he finds out that the Fire Nation invaded his home, he'll be devastated," Katara responded, unusually subdued.

Sokka stopped his sister with a hand on her arm, "And if we don't tell him what we saw, he'll find out on his own. Don't you think it's kinder to tell him what we saw now, rather than let him keep his hopes up only to find the body of one of his friends or teachers?" Katara closed her eyes in a pained expression for a moment before nodding, tears brimming in her eyes. Unfortunately, at that moment Aang distracted them with a tale of his old mentor and the promise of meeting someone in the temple's Avatar Sanctuary, then with seeing the statues of past Avatars and chasing a lemur that had stumbled upon the sanctuary.

Unfortunately, Aang was the fastest of the three of them naturally with his air bending, plus he knew the temple, so he got away from the siblings before they could bring themselves to break the bad news. By the time Sokka caught up to Aang, Aang had found the skeleton of his old mentor, surrounded by Fire Nation soldier skeletons and armor. "Oh, man," Sokka murmured, rushing over to Aang's side and scooping the pup up into his embrace and cooing. "I know it's hard, Aang. Cry it out. I'll keep you safe." He rocked the boy gently, murmuring words of comfort and safety between Omegan coos. Unfortunately, his efforts to keep the boy semi-calm were thrown out the window the moment Katara ran in the room, startling them both and giving Aang the final push from grief to anger. The boy lit up in blue light and Sokka was blown back into his sister.

"What happened?" Katara cried out as she and her brother held on for dear life.

"He found out firebenders killed Gyatso," Sokka yelled back over the roaring wind.

"Oh, no! It must be his Avatar spirit. His grief and anger over Gyatso's death must have triggered it. What do we do?"

"I'm gonna try and calm him down," Sokka yelled back as he scrambled forward over the ground, keeping his center of gravity low so he wouldn't be pushed back as harshly by the winds. He got as close as he could to the boy and cried out words of comfort to him, releasing a calming Omega scent he hoped would make it to the boy amongst the whipping of the winds. After a moment, the boy collapsed to the ground, the winds dissipating and the blue glow fading. Sokka rushed forward and scooped him up in his arms, holding him close to his scent glands and scenting the boy like a mother does her pups. "Katara and I aren't going to let anything happen to you," he murmured, "We're pack now. You'll always have a family with us, promise."

After a quiet moment of sobbing and rubbing his cheek in Sokka's scent gland, Aang whispered, "I'm sorry," and Sokka shushed him with murmurs of encouragement and comfort, holding him close. Katara came up from behind them and wrapped them both in a hug, and they stayed like that for some time, taking comfort in friendship and Pack.


End file.
